Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1887-09-08

| of bow and stern, and she sat as low
in the water as did the ''Nellie" when
full-freighted. This vessel was in fact
the twin of Nellie" built and launched
at the same time. in the same yard;
but Louis Hunter knew nothing of this.
A cold sweat stood out on his forehead.
Could this, he asked of himself, be the
specter of the bark he had stranded
and burned in the Bahamas, come up
here to betray him? A marine glass
| lay on the table; he snatched it up and
looked anxiously and with trembling
hands holding it, till the progress of
unbounded relief he read the words:
Lady Jane Grey
Smiling at his absurd fears, he sat
down and reflected. All was going
prosperously with him: he was domi-
ciled in the house where the treasure
was concealed; no living person knew
of it's existence but he. 1t was perfect
ly safe in its place of concealment
The next thing was to get Mrs. Willis
and Helen out of the house; then to
devise a secure plan to remove the
money.
He thought of Helen; and his brow
darkened. Success would crown his
efforts; yet without her, it would not
be complete.
''But she'll never see him again." he
thought. Il must be patient. Time
works wonders; time will soften her
stubborn heart when she finds he does
not return. By all the gods, III have
her yet! She will have one more
chance. The next time she'll not re-
fuse me-and fifty thousand donarsr'
Mrs. Willis sat alone at the tea
| table, and her manner was anything
but cordial. He inquired for Helen,
and was told that she refused to meet
Mr.. Hunter. The mother added. with
some acerbity, that Helen would go to
Boston in the morning, to stay q week
with her. aunt. The perfect GOODNESS
and nonchalance of Hunters manner
under the delicate circumstances in
which he appeared in her house
had somewhat puzzled and an
| noyed the good lady; but his
demeanor upon hearing this an
nouncement, which she had expected
would discomfort him, not only vexed
but annoyed her. He merely said
"Ahr' and elevated his black eyebrows
| Then he fell to and ate hearty sup
per. He complimented Mrs. Willis on
her biscuits, and ate a round dozen of
them. He almost exhausted her pa
thence with his calls for more tea, talk
ing garrulously all the time of
different varieties of the herb, and
what he had read about the
modes of preparing it. When
the tea-things were cleared away and
Mrs. Willis had returned to the sitting
room, Hunter fingered, hoping that
Helen would appear; but she did
not. The candles were lighted and
he was told which one he might take
when he was ready to retire, but
the hint was thrown away upon him.
Mrs. Willis wished to ask many
questions about her husband, but
she was so thoroughly provoked at
her strange and unwelcome guest that
she kept silence. Finally he babe her
good night, and went up to his room.
| Between her annoyance and her mysti-
fication upon Hunters conduct, Mrs.
| Willis was in a very unsettled state of
| mind. and went in to talk the matter over
with Helen. But the latter, usually so
mild and gentle in her ways, was thor
| ough1y aroused at the mans rude
persistency, and she refused even to
talk of him. She had already packed her
trunk, to be ready for her departure, and
made no scruple of informing her
mother that she should not return I'M
| til Mr.. Hunter had left the house. Mrs
Willis remained awake half an hour
after Helen had begun to dream of
Henry Crawford escaping from Span
ish dungeon, and coming back to her
with a ball and chain on each leg, his
hands manacled, and his moustache
shaved off. The mother perplexed her
self with plans as to how she should
contrive to inform their guest in the
morning that she was not at liberty to
offer him her Inequalities any longer
and she fell asleep over the problem.
Between ten and eleven o'clock there
were no lights visible in the house.
The night was wild and misty. The
PARKWAY bark of dog and the faint
sound of bells striking on the vessels
in the harbor were the only noises.
PART Iu.-CHAPTER Ill
GHosTLY vISITANTs.
Nrr Willis ,raS tlroySilv ooSciOuS